Magudumana's Deportation Bid Denied: Trial Looms | Image: BONA Magazine
The Bloemfontein High Court has dismissed Dr Nadipha Magudumana’s bid to have her deportation from Tanzania declared unlawful.
Magudumana was arrested in Arusha, Tanzania, on 8 April 2023, for assisting a convicted murder and rapist, Thabo Bester, to escape at Mangaung Correctional Centre in May 2022. Bester escaped prison in what was reported to have been a fire that had broken out in his cell on 3 May 2023.
In November 2024, Magudumana’s legal team argued before the Supreme Court of Appeal that her arrest in Tanzania should be declared “null and void”. This followed the Free State High Court ruling against her in June 2024, stating she had agreed to return to South Africa in April 2023; her legal team appealed to the Supreme Court of Appeal, disputing the claim and maintaining she was abducted by police.
Meanwhile, the National Persecution Authority (NPA)’s spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga says the NPA is committed to ensuring the trial, set to commence on July 21 to September 19, 2025, at the Free State Division of the High Court in Bloemfontein, takes place without unreasonable delays.
Magudumana and other co-accused are facing 38 counts, including aiding an inmate to escape, defeating the ends of justice, violation of the body, fraud, corruption, and money laundering.
The other co-accused are Magudumana’s father, Zolile Sekeleni; Mutenyane Masukelafive; and G4S guards Senohe Matsoara, Motenyani Masukela, Tieho Makhotsa, Natassja Jansen, and Teboho Lipholo.
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